The Blogazine

Deep breath. Salone 2012 is over, and now Milan can go back to her usual beguiling, mysterious, grey self. It’s been a massive overdose of design shot straight to the veins, louder and more brashly than the years before, as marketing continues to merge wholesale with what was once an unrestricted orgy of ideas. Parties and plastic, kitchens and corporate sponsors. So, the stark lull that usually follows design’s biggest event here – a time at which Milan seems like a ghost town in comparison – is the perfect time to reflect upon the state of design behind the flash and fashion that inevitably has massive implications for both the built and natural environments. Did any instant classics emerge this time out? What does Milan mean nowadays? And, can we be hopeful for the near-future of design?

Our design editor, Rujana Rebernjak, waded through every last inch of the city over the course of the week and was almost universally disappointed. The lo-fi events at the Fabbrica del Vapore were a breath of fresh air, led by Alessandro Mendini’s Milano si autoproduce, and were a welcomed escape from the buzzing commercialism of the fiera and Zona Tortona. But overall, these events were conspicuous in their infrequency, and in their being relegated to a ghetto in a far corner of the city. This was reinforced by the myriad exhibitions by Europe’s top design schools, which led us (but certainly not only us) to question the sorry state of Italian design education. Standout schools from Switzerland, Scandinavia, the UK and elsewhere are producing far and away better designers, and while the great majority of these objects are still produced in Italy’s world-class factories, it has never been clearer that the country is lightyears away from its golden years of frequent lightning bolts of genius. Where are today’s OlivettiValentine, LanciaStratos or FiatPanda, Castiglioni’s gorgeous utilitarianism and off-the-wall genius in the style of the Memphis Collective?

But beyond Italy’s malaise, it seems a dismay at the throwaway, fast fashion zeitgeist of the modern furniture industry we ranted about in last week’s editorial were spot on. Among the more contrarian designers at this year’s event, there was tangible sense of dissatisfaction at the status quo, and several projects made snarky reference to the system they seem to feel trapped within.

At Ventura Runway in Lambrate, we found a tasty tongue-in-cheek project whose commentary probably best captured the discontent , “Sapore dei Mobili” by a Japanese/Portuguese partnership of Ryosuke Fukusada and Rui Pereira. Billed “furniture tasting,” the project is essentially a clever waffle iron that allows its users to crank out (yummy) furniture in series (your own little countertop fabbrica). The designers say that “in this way, when the user gets full of his furniture, he just eats it.” No waste. No guilt. And then he can “start all over again using a different recipe.” That’s certainly some mass production we can deal with. Chocolate! Cinnamon! Berry furniture! With frosting! Or sprinkles!

In any case, the impetus of the Sapore dei Mobili project is part of a wider discourse on design that seems at last to be catching on. It’s one thing for jaded consumers to feel both overwhelmed by the frenetic pace and underwhelmed at the lack of innovation, but designers themselves are even rebelling against their system. Milan has two more years to make a massive impression on the design world before Expo 2015 will force in onto the global stage outside the insular universes of fashion and design. It’s doubtful that those without an emotional connection to the city’s design legacy will be quite as forgiving as every year’s crop of design tourists are. And frankly, this year’s Salone just didn’t do it. Now it’s hangover time. Eat your waffle furniture with tons of butter and syrup, and perhaps next year Salone will have come to its senses.

Modeselektor are a band that formed soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and their musical arc over the past decade has been appropriately thundering, celebratory and without borders, seamlessly incorporating elements of IDM, hip-hop, jazz, dub, and pop. Their genre is at best haphazard; no one knows what to call it, everybody moves to it. Their tunes work equally just as well with a bag of kabenzis as they do with a hit of MDMA or acid, and often both will do.

Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary started out as DJs, evolved into a production team, and in the process ended up becoming full on songwriters. Sometimes they sound like two scientists breaking new territory, other times like two kids breaking into their parent’s weed stash, but their compass always points to the dance floor. None other than Thom Yorke has appeared on two of the duo’s last three albums and seems to be their biggest fan.

They’re more of a musician’s musician over in America, a DJ’s DJ, but the Americans in attendance at either of their two New York shows last week (one at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, one at Webster Hall) didn’t seem to mind the outside world’s lack of interest. “Yes!” was all anyone could seem to say over tracks from Happy Birthday! and Hello Mom!. This is because Modeselektor sound better live: Unlike many of their producer/musician/DJ counterparts, Bronsert and Szary prefer the stage to the studio, and their tunes take on a new dimension when heard in real life. It’s like a DJ set, only they’re DJing their own stuff. James Murphy, are you listening?

Technical, bottom-heavy, calculated with every gesture; even their name comes from a machine function on the Roland RE-201 space echo analog delay effects unit. One can imagine these two sitting in the corner of the discothèque arms crossed sipping on a pint of vodka lime, nodding slowly under the flurry of lights. But considering they called their last album Monkeytown we can assume they don’t take themselves too seriously. The same goes for their music. “I wanna make you sweat―bass bass drum! Hyper! Hyper!” one song boasts. “We put some energy into this place―I want to ask you something: are you ready?”

Cited by Stefano Boeri as the only venue that truly offered examples of independent and spontaneous creativity, Fabbrica del Vapore offered three interesting exhibitions.

The first exhibition that was on everyone’s lips is Milano si autoproduce. Promoted by the grand master of italian design Alessandro Mendini, Milano si autoproduce reunites a long list of designers that are both craftsmen, businessmen, gallery managers and creatives. The goal of the exhibition is to develop a new model for contemporary design where anyone can see their projects produced and set on the market. Even though this concept isn’t new, it was interesting to see the amount of auto-producers in Milan. We weren’t completely able to understand the connections between all the pieces in the show, which left us pondering. You could see projects by some of the design superstars like Michele De Lucchi with his Produzione Privata set side by side with a collection of jewelry, which made you question the criteria of the selection.

The second exhibition worth seeing was the second edition of Uncovered exhibition. Entitled Qualities, the exhibition showed the work of Line Depping and Jakob Jorgensen, Elisa Honkanen, Peter Johansen, Elia Mangia and Simone Simonelli. The question that this exhibition tried to answer was ‘ what does quality design mean?’. Whether it is related to its duration, affordance, functionality, sustainability or emotional quality was a problem that these designers tried to answer with their projects.

The third show that made us smile is Low Cost Design created by Daniele Pario Perra. Conceived as an on-going show, Low Cost Design presented a series of interpretations of our daily objects seen from a different perspective.

Our design insight tour unfortunately ends here. Even though we are almost out of strength, we would have liked to show you everything that was happening around Milan in these days. Now we can only wait for the next edition of the Salone del Mobile.

Hidden in a small wooden attic and woken by the sun. It burns and tip. Outside of our shelter the air is cold. Comfort is a cup of tea flavored with orange rind. Cereal yogurt meets a crispy apple while the movement of spreading jam on the bread for breakfast brings me back to the childhood.

Even though Italian design has always been a symbol of excellence and Italian designers have set up the standards for international practices, lately the Italian schools of design haven’t been really making much of an impression. You really get to realize the difficult situation in italian design education when you compare them to their international equivalents.

What has made us think about this, is our today’s visit at two European design schools’ exhibitions. The first one, named Too Cool For School and Hot Tools, was organized by the Swiss ECAL school. Held at the lovely Spazio Orso at Brera district, the exhibition showcased the projects made by all of the school’s departments. Thus you could see projects like a foldable boat, perfect for the short picnics at the lake in Lausanne, beautiful Narciso vases that accentuate the flower’s beauty, or a series of glass objects done during a workshop with Ronan Bouroullec and the artisan Matteo Gonet.

The other design school we have managed to visit around Milan, was the Dutch Design Academy Eindhoven. Presenting a selection of 50 graduate projects in an exhibition curated by Ilse Crawford held at Studio Zeta. The main theme connecting all of the selected project was the relationship between life and desire. The exhibition strongly reflected the social and relational qualities of design, and reflected the young designers’ connection to their environment.

After these two great shows, we couldn’t but think how Italian schools really are ages away from this level of quality. It’s difficult to accept the fact, considering that some of the most important design companies are still Italian, but maybe a slight critique towards our educational system should give a boost towards a major change.

This morning Milano has finally graced us with a lovely sunny day. Even though we were tempted to run away from all the Design Week rush and go eat an ice-cream somewhere really far away, the sun has given us the energy to visit yet another exhibition.

We went to the Museum Poldi Pezzoli, originally a private art museum founded in the 19th century, where for the second time Inventario, a young Italian editorial project, has organized a show. Curated by the magazine’s editor in chief Beppe Finessi, Fare Lume is an exhibition that explores the candle, both as an object as well as a concept. Hence, the intimate show plays with the idea of candlelight that can make us feel home wherever we are and that still fascinates us in spite of all the technological progress.

Talking about the candle as object, you can find both projects like “Scented Time” by Sovrappensiero whose perfume works as a sensor for blind people or Marcel Wanders’s B.L.O lamp that can be turned on by a simple blow. The fact that there are still designers that try to reproduce the form or the sensorial function of candles makes it almost a philosophical or anthropological question that brings us back thousands of years ago when man discovered fire. Why it still has such a strong impact on us is a question this exhibition doesn’t answer, but it brings our attention to the simplest of all human desires making the Salone seem almost like a joke.

Yesterday was the last day of the busy Design Week, opening the dances for even busiest Salone weekend. Without even setting our foot on the actual fair at Rho, it is almost impossible to take a peak at all of the events that are happening around Milan. So, one has to choose, where the choice is usually based on other people’s recommendations, famous or new prodigious designers you see on the event flyer, or the inevitable Fuorisalone Guide. As the guide is being promoted by one of the most influential Italian architecture and design magazines, we faithfully went on to see their clamorous event at the State University.

The beautiful architecture of the University’s courtyard offered an incredible background where even the most un-intelligent or ugliest of projects would acquire a certain power or authority.

At least that’s what it seemed at first sight. Interni Legacy, the project they were presenting at the State University, puts together a number of design and architecture superstars with different companies which resulted in a series of installations.

So you could find installations such as Monica Arman’s tower done in the collaboration with the Province of Trento, Massimo Iosa Ghini with FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti or a special project as a tribute to Richard Meier done with Italcementi Lab. What actually struck us what that, after the initial fascination with these monumental sculptures, the sense of the exhibition was a senseless commercial promotion.

We are all conscious that design week doesn’t always present design excellence, but what Interni had shown wasn’t nor formally interesting nor conceptually elegant or intelligent. So, fortunately yesterday was quite a lovely day and our walk around the historical courtyard was pleasant. Actually, the courtyard’s 18th century beauty is all we remember, and that should say a lot.

Today’s destination of our Salone report has brought us to the historical fulcrum of Italian design – The Triennale. Once center of innovation between industry and applied arts, hosting the ‘grand expositions’ of Italian excellence, it still perfectly embodies that spirit.

We have to admit that we entered the Triennale a bit prejudiced about what we would have liked, knowing that our beloved Enzo Mari was presenting a new collection of vases. Lezioni di Enzo Mari is a series of vases and containers designed for Corsi Design Factory. What is different between this project is the fact that the exhibition, as well as the work itself, wasn’t so much about presenting a novelty, but about a process of teaching and learning between the artisan and the designer. Another thing that struck us was the fact that what apparently seemed like glass containers, were actually made of a resin, making them easier to produce but maintaining the glassy finishing.

Even though seeing Lezioni di Enzo Mari could have been enough for us, we continued the Triennale stream. Among a long list of small exhibitions, major part of which weren’t at all impressive, we liked Objet Préféré, Objet Colore produced in collaboration between Grand Hornu and Fabrica. Two shows in one, they complemented each other both from the point of view of function as well as form, one being almost useless and black and white, he other colorful and utterly practical.

Besides the Triennale Design Museum which traces the history of Italian graphic design, we could vaguely appreciate Perspectives – Belgian design survey.

Ending our tour with Marco Macc Meets Design could have completely destroyed our initial enthusiasm, hadn’t there been Patricia Urquiola’s collaboration with Budri that produced a series of beautiful vases made of marble. Using the production waste material that otherwise would have been thrown away, Urquiola has definitely managed to interpret he true spirit of design.

As Friday has already arrived, faster than we thought it would, there are still quite a few things we feel shouldn’t be missed. In order to manage to get at least a peak at all of them we have planned a tight schedule. So, while we have put on our most comfortable shoes and continued our marathon around the streets of Milan, this time heading to the busy Brera Design District.

We started from the Appartamento Lago, a well known design venue, that last year received more than 20000 visitors. Instead of creating a highly artificial environment such as a fair stand, Lago has decided to communicate with people on a more intimate level, creating a cosy environment that at the same time points out different living environments.

The second place that we had to visit on our Grand Tour around Brera was the exhibition Vivere alla Ponti held at Ordine degli Architetti della Provincia di Milano, celebrating the experiments in domestic living and architecture of living and working by Gio Ponti. Curated by Francesca Molteni and Franco Raggi, the show is paying tribute to the great modernist master whose timeless designs have been re-made by Molteni&C (currently being presented at their flagship store).

Among other interesting showrooms and new design companies, you should also stop by Austrian design – raw and delicate exhibition. There you can see the work of Augarten, Lobmeyr, Wittman, Polka and mischer’traxler, that tries to discuss the relation between the austrian nature and their culture and design.

As our marathon goes on on a tight schedule, we’re heading for our next design destination hoping that the annoying rain will finally stop bothering us.

Zona Tortona has caught our attention, again. After the yesterday’s quite satisfying Superstudio visit, we have decided to take a lazy stroll on the via Tortona and other neighbouring streets to see what else one of the busiest design districts in Milan can offer. Even though the cloudy day could have made us change our mood, the disappointment of the day was actually the Tortona district itself. After a few blind shots, where we couldn’t but ask ourselves what is actually the point of the design week, we thought we had found our goldmine.

The huge banner announcing ‘The Leading Figures of French Design’ had caught our eye and we entered the French Design exhibition. A 1200 square meter exhibition space was a miniature fair featuring what should have been the French design excellence. Well, besides a few singular projects, to be really honest, the exhibition was kind of a disappointment. You could blame us of being too tired or too meteoropathic, but this was the pure first impression it made on us. There were few interesting, funny or quirky projects like Normal Studios‘ bar set up using Tolix‘s chairs or some of Y’a pas le feu au lac‘s vases, but unfortunately it’s not what we think great design should really be.